All the digital cameras have firmware, call it the software that runs the camera.Now have you ever updated that firmware? It can save you a lot of hassle by removing that error that plagues you, or even make your camera better!

Some highlights from the new version for the Nikon D300 so you know what I talk about:

- The range of settings available for ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed in the shooting menu has been increased from 1/250 – 1 s to 1/4000 – 1 s.- Focus acquisition performance in dynamic-area AF mode has been improved.- Focus acquisition performance with contrast-detect AF has been improved.- Auto white balance performance has been improved.- An issue that prevented shutter release at the specified shutter speed when no operations were performed for 30 seconds in mirror up mode has been resolved. - An issue that caused abnormal image display when Image review was set to On and the playback zoom in button was pressed immediately after shooting at the following settings has been resolved.

Just another observation, I just got a Nikon D90, bought an 8GB SDHC card and found that I had to use he camera to download as both my laptops' internal card reader and my external card reader would not support SDHC. I have now bought a multi purpose card reader which is SDHC compliant and everythings OK.

It seems that if you gerar is over 2 yrs old, it may not work directly with SDHC.

Firmware update Version 1.1.1 incorporates the following fixes and improvements.

1. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera's LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient. 2. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera's LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position. 3. Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera's custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon's Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3. 4. Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite. 5. Enables an external flash connected to the camera's synchro terminal to fire even when the camera's built-in flash is popped up.

Nikon D3

The following improvements have been made in version 2.01

* Geodetic information is now displayed in ViewNX Ver. 1.2.0 or later and Capture NX 2 Ver. 2.1.0 or later for images captured with the GPS Unit GP-1 mounted on the camera. * Autofocus-response performance in focus mode C (Continuous-servo AF mode) with relatively dark subjects has been increased. * When the AF-ON button is pressed, the monitor turns off and a focus point can now be selected using the multi selector. * Photo information displayed in full-frame playback has been modified as follows: o HI-, LO- has been changed to Hi, Lo o WARM TONE has been changed to WARM FILTER o COLOR CUSTOM has been changed to COLOR BALANCE * Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama. * An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved. * When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved. * An issue that, in some rare cases, caused images captured with the following lenses to be under-exposed, has been resolved. o AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED o AF VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED (5.0x)

Nikon D700

The following improvements have been made in version 1.01 # When Custom Setting a4 Focus tracking with lock-on was set to Off in Continuous-servo AF, the lens drive moved gradually without achieving focus. This issue has been resolved. # When the Speedlight SB-800 was mounted on the camera with flash mode set to Distance-priority manual (GN) mode, and then the exposure meters were reactivated or the camera was turned on, the distance information displayed on the SB-800 changed. This issue has been resolved. # When the Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 was mounted on the camera and an EN-EL3e battery inserted in the camera but no batteries inserted in the MB-D10, and SB-900 flash mode set to TTL auto flash mode, the flash mode changed to A mode when the exposure meters turned off or were reactivated, or the camera was turned off or on. This issue has been resolved. (This issue has also been resolved with SB-900 firmware Ver. 5.02.) # An issue that, in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR in the shooting menu set to On has been resolved. # Manamah, displayed in the Time zone options for the World time item in the setup menu, has been changed to Manama.

Not posting much here anymore, but the photo's you can follow here There is plenty there.

Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c

On my computer with Windows XP I have Digital Photo Professional ver 3.4 and EOS Utility ver 2.0.Now my question - can I download later versions of these programs and do I have to pay for that or is it free ? I own a Canon 400D and a 40D. Many thanks Frans

You can download the latest versions of both above utilities to the latest version from Canon's website and there is no cost. When installing the downloaded files will check if you have a previous version installed. Current versions afaik are EOS Utility v2.10.2.0 and DPP v3.11.1.0.